lecoultre-piguet



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. LEOOULTRE-PIGUET.

' STOP WATCH.

Patented Nov. 19, 1895.

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STOP WATCH.

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(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

A. LEOOULTRE-PIGUET. STOP WATCH.

No. 550,182. Patented Nov. 19, 1895.

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(No Model.) 5 SheetsSheet 5.

A. LEGOULTRE-PIGUET.

STOP WATCH.

No. 550,182. Patented Nov. 19, 1895.

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ANDREW B.GRAHI\M. PHOTOUTHQWASHINGTON D (I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AMI LECOULTRE-PIGUET, OF BRASSUS, SIVITZERLAND.

STOP-WATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,182, dated November19, 1895.

' Application filed November 22, 1894. Serial No. 629,581. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatI, AMI LEooULTRE-PIoUET, watchmaker, of Brassus,Switzerland, have invented some new and useful Improvements inStop-lVatches, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention may be applied as well to those watches which areprovided with only one mainspring as to those having one mainspringoperating the ordinary watch mechanism and another mainspring operat ingthe stop-watch mechanism.

In the accompanying drawings my said invention is shown as applied to awatch having two separate mainsprings, and the splitseconds hand isadapted to indicate the quarters of seconds; but I do not limit myselfto that special form of execution of the mechanism, as it may be adaptedto record other fractions of seconds.

Figure 1 is a plan view of those parts of the mechanism which are at theback of the move ment-plate. Fig. 1 is a diagram of the train of gearsconnecting the one mainspring-barrel with the escapement. Fig. 1 is adiagram of the train of gears connecting the other mainspring-barrelwith the split-seconds hand wheel and with the wings engaging abevel-toothed wheel fixed on the axis of the escapement-wheel axis. Fig.1 is a detail view of the two detents and one of the wings of the arborof the quarter-seconds hand. Fig. 2 shows separately and in perspectiveview the adjustable bridge J and the rocking lever J. Fig. 3 is a sideview of the rocking lever R and of the bridge upon which the same ispivoted, showing the arrangement of the spring R of said rocking lever.Fig. 4 is a side view of the rocking lever Z and of the bridge uponwhich the same is pivoted, showing the arrangement of the spring Z ofthe said rocking lever. Fig. 5 is a plan View of those parts of themechanism which are located under the worksthat is to say, beneath thedial-plate-as they are to be seen after the latter has been removed, thehandsettingmechanism being at rest. Fig. 6 shows the said hand-settingmechanism in activity. Fig. 7 is a partial section showing the train ofgears situated in the central part of the watch and the oscillatingshaft I. Fig. 8 is a face view of the watch.

In all the figures the same letters refer to the same parts.

A is the usual mainspring-barrel acting upon the hour-hands and theminute-hands by means of the usual train of wheels. Said barrel gearsinto the pinion b of a wheel B (shown in Figs. 1 and 7,) which acts upona wheel B, fixed upon the axis of the centerwheel B. The latter engagesthe pinion c3 of a wheel 0, which is in gear with the pinion (Z of acog-wheel D, located beneath the plate, as seen in 5, and acting uponthe pinion e of an escapement-wheel E, the axis of which bears on itsupper end a toothed wheel E, substantially as in my patent numbered355,403. The escapement-wheel E acts, as usual, upon an anchor eengaging the axis of a balance-wheel E F is the stop-spring barrelacting upon the pinion g of a wheel G, which gears into the pinion 77.of another Wheel H, the rotation of said wheel II being transmitted bymeans of a pinion W and of an intermediate Wheel H, placed beneath theplate, as shown in'Fig. 5, to the lower pinion t" of the shaft I, theupper end of which bears in a jewel bearing fixed t0 the one end of arocking lever J, pivoted to an adjustable bridge J. The upper end ofsaid shaft I bears an upper pinion t intended to act upon the stop-wheelK.

The adjustable bridge J, Fig. 2, is pivoted to the movement-plate bymeans of its pivot j and kept in its place by means of a screw j,passing through an elongated hole in said bridge. The lever J is looseupon a stem 7' secured to the bridge J, and said lever J bears adownwardly-projecting pin 7' against which acts a springf. Said springpresses the rear end of lever J against the cam-wheel O, and when one ofthe cam teeth or projections of the latter raises or acts on the lever Jthe pinion t of the shaft I is brought into gear with the wheel K. Thenthe mechanism has been taken to pieces and is to be reassembled, theadjustable bridge J is allowed to be rocked on its pivotj, so that theteethof the pinion i of the shaft I may take very exactly into thespaces between the teeth of wheel K, and thus it is understood thatafter the adjustable bridge has been fixed again by means of itsscrewy", and when the upper end of the shaft I is again oscillated bymeans of the lever J, as already specified, the said pinion will be putinto or out of gear with wheel K without any jump of the-stophand eitherforward or backward.

The lower end of the shaft I bears under the dial-plate a wheel L, whichgears into the pinion Z, fixed to the lower end of a shaft L, bearingnear its upper end small radiating wings Z, meshing with the toothedwheel E, above mentioned. (See Figs. 7, 1", and 1 in succession.) Theupper end of the shaft L is journaled in the shorter part of a rockinglever M, pivoted at m to a bridge m and the longer part M of whichbears, under the action of a spring M against the cam-wheel 0. Twosuperposed levers P and P both pivoted at 1) to the plate, bear underthe action of a spring against the cam-wheel O and are provided withhook-shaped detentsp and p respectively. The detent 1:) of the lever Pis intended to stop any one of the radiating wings I when the end ofsaid lever P engages into a notch of the camwheel. 0, while the detent pof the lower lever P is intended to engage a lower projection Z" on theend of one of the said wings, whereby such wing is stopped. The saiddetent p of the lever P and the lower projection of one of the wings Zare so combined as to have the quarterseconds hand of the fractions ofseconds stopped upon the zero of the dial when the other end of saidlever P engages a notch of the cam -wheel 0. Therefore when the saidquarter-secoiuls hand-is to be stopped the cam -wheel is rocked into aposition in which the lever l engages a notch of said camwheel, so as tohave its detentp stop either of the wings Zfor instance, upon the number1, 2, or 3 of the seconds-dial, Fig. 8; and then, when the said numberis recorded and the device is to be set to zero for a new record, thecam-wheel is rocked one tooth and the lever P is lifted, so as to moveits detent p out of the path of the wings Z; but at same time the leverPengages a notch of the camwheel, and its detent 19 stops the projectionof one of the wings Z and sets the quarterseconds hand to zero.

The wheel 0 is provided with a lower ratchet-wheel which. may be actedupon byv means of a click Q, carried by a lcverR, pivoted at r to abridge R The free end of lever R may be operated by means of a tubularsleeve It, surrounding the stem S, and upon which acts the pendant S,when the same is depressed. The rocking lever R is brought back to itsnormal position by means of a spring R Fig. 3, which is arranged in asuitable recess provided on the edge of the bridge R to which the saidrocking lever is pivoted, said spring bearing against a pin. 0'projecting from the lower side of the leverR into a suitable opening insaid bridge R The arbor of the stop-wheel K bears the stop-hand K, aheart'cam 7i an d a pinion T, (shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings) withwhich gears an intermediate wheel T, acting upon the wheel U, the arborof which bears a heartcam U and the minute-hand a. The heartcam U iscarved or hollowed out in order to have its mass reduced, and theminute-hand u, fixed to the same arbor, is on the contrary made somewhatmassive or heavy, so as to counterbalance the weight of said heart-cam.In this way the minute-hand a is perfectly poised and works quiteuniformly.

In order to bring the stop-hand K back to Zero, and at same time theminute-hand a of the stop-watch, the mechanism is provided with ahammer-lever V, pivoted at e and bearing by its nose 4), under theaction of a spring V, against the cam-wheel O and arranged to act uponthe heart-cam 7i), and also with a hammer-lever \V, pivoted at w andarranged to act upon the heart-cam U. The nose in of the hammer-lever \Vbears under the action of a spring \V against a rockinglever X, pivotedat w, and arranged so as to transmit to the said hammer-lever \V everymotion of the hammer-lever V.

Y is a click-wheel which may be actuated by means of the click .2 of alever Z, pivoted at ,e" to a bridge R and combined with a pusher Z, bywhich the short part of the lever is depressed and the click caused torotate click-wheelY the distance of one tooth.

The rocking lever Z is brought back to its normal position by means of aspring, Fig. 4, arranged in a suitable recess provided in the edge ofthe bridge R to which the said lever is pivoted, and acting upon a pin.2, projecting from the lower face of the rocking lever Z into asuitable outcut or openin of the bridge R The arbor of said wheel Ytraverses the whole work, and bears beneath the dial-plate a cam-wheelY,upon which bear the two arms 1 and 1 of the usual fork, intended toalternately seize or release the wheel Y the sleeve of which. bears theflyback hand g The arbor 76 of the seconds stop-wheel K passes throughthe sleeve of the wheel Y The sleeve of wheel Y is surrounded by adead-sleeve a, carried by a bridge a, and around which rotates aminute-wheel Z), the sleeve of which bears the minute-hand Kiand uponwhich is sleeved the usual hour-wheel 0, bearing the hour-hand K. Theminutewheel Z) gears at same time into a wheel I) and into theintermediate wheel 0, the pinion of which acts as usual upon. thehour-wheel e. (Z is a wheel rotating upon a sleeve, through which passesthe axis of the wheel U of the minutes meter-hand and the rotation ofwhich is then transmitted to the minute-wheel Z) through the wheel Z).

The hand-setting mechanism consists of a rocking lever g, pivoted at g,and having one of its ends engaging in a circular groove of the stemS,while its other end bears against a pin 75 of another rocking lever75, pivoted at t and engaged in the circular groove of the usual slidingpinion f. A lever .71., pivoted at h, is acted. upon by means of aspring so as to catch the end of lever 1 when the same brings thesliding pinion f into gear with wheel cZ-that is to say, when the stem Sis drawn out, Fig. 6. On the contrary, when the latter is pressedinwardly the lever his brought back by the end of the lever g into theposition shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, in which it releases the endof lever t,which is then raised by the spring i so as to release thesliding pinion f from the wheel cl.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a stop-watch withindependent splitseconds hand, quarter-secondshand indicating thefraction of seconds, and fly-back hand, a fifth mover of the trainactuating the stop, consisting in a rocking-shaft I traversing thewatch-work, a wheel L on the lower end of the shaft, near thedial-plate, and the pinion of which is acted upon by the usual train ofwheels, a pinion on the upper end of the shaft placed near thestop-wheel K located at the top of the watch-work, a rocking-lever J,one of the ends of said shaft I which is near the dial, being journaledin a jewel bearing, and the other end of said shaft I being journaled ina bearing of the said rocking-lever J, a rocking-bridge J having itspivot j located in the plate of the work and provided with a pin 7' onwhich rocking-lever J is pivoted, and a screw j traversing a slot ofbridge J, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

2. In a stop-watch with independent splitseconds hand,quarter-seconds-hand and flyback hand, a sixth mover formed of a longshaft L, a pinion on one end of the shaft, near the dial, actuated bymeans of the wheel L of the fifth mover of the wheel-Work acting uponthe stop and wings Z, on the other end of the shaft one of which isprovided with a projection, a lever M on which is pivoted the upper endof shaft L, in combination with a cam wheel 0 upon which the rear end ofthe lever M bears, a wheel E upon the arbor of the escapement-wheel androcking-levers P and P having detents p and p and bearing upon acam-wheel O, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. In a stop-watch. with independent splitseconds hand,quarter-seconds-hand indicating the fractions of seconds andfiy'baclrhand, a minute-hand formed of a toothed wheel, a pinion placedon the arbor of the stop-wheel and a train of gears between the pinionand toothed wheel the arbor of said wheel bearing on one of its ends acarved or hollowed out heart-cam counterbalanced by means of the handsecured on the' other end of said axis, substantially as described.

4. In a stop-watch with independent splitseconds hand,quarter-seconds-hand indicating the fractions of seconds, and fiy-backhand, the combination of the hammer-lever V, the hammer-lever W, with arocking-lever X adapted to transmit to the lever W the motions of thelever V, substantially as described.

5. In a stop-watch with independent splitseconds hand,quarter-seconds-hand and flyback hand, the lever B provided with a pin4, a click on the lever, and spring R located in a suitable recess ofthe bridge R and acting against the pin 1" combined with a sleeve Rsurrounding the crown stem S, said click being adapted to engage and toact upon the cam-wheel O, substantially as described.

6. In a stop-watch with independent splitseconds hand,quarter-seconds-hand and flyback hand, a lever Z pivoted to a bridge ofthe watch-works, and provided with a click 2, a toothed-wheel Y engagedby the latter, means for actuating the lever, a spring Z engaging a pinon said lever, a cam-wheel rotated by said wheel, and the usual fly-backfork y, 1/, acted on by the cam-wheel, sub stantially as set forth.

7. In a watch-work having independent split-seconds-hand and fly-backhand, a handsetting mechanism consisting of the combination of thegrooved crown-stem S and the sliding-pinion f, with a spring-actuatedlever 25 pivoted at one side of the pinion, a lever g pivoted at thesame side, engaging in the groove, and engaged by a portion of lever t,and a spring-actuated lever h pivoted at the opposite side of the pinionand engaged by the ends of the levers t and g, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

AMI LEOOULTRE-PIGUET.

WVitnesses:

ELMER SCHNEIDER, BENJ. H. RIDGELEY.

